I was fascinated by this building; it looks like your standard early Twentieth Century storefront in St. Louis, but it is made of cut stone. Why?
Stone Store, Manchester Avenue
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Image by Jennifer Silverberg
Image by Jennifer Silverberg
03/14/2013, 04:05 am
Quite possibly because the stone was recycled having been used previously in a building at the 1904 World’s Fair.
There is a row of stone homes that face Hanley Road that are of similar material & style.
Many buildings built for the fair were torn down after the exposition ended. It is not unusual to go into the rafters of a 1910 +/- era home in Maplewood and see evidence of previous nail holes etc.
Workers from Europe came to St Louis to help build the grand buildings of the fair – and stayed. Their skills are evident in the high quality stone and brickwork still standing in neighborhoods built just after the turn of the century.